Artwork by Ashton Carless Profile by Amelia Anthony I have enjoyed and exercised the privilege of knowing Ashton Carless for years now. He can be frequently seen in action at Carrows or in the art room where he takes AP Studio. To get him talking, ask how good kid, m.A.A.d city compares to To Pimp a Butterfly or ask what he despises most about the US Government. (It’s money in politics, which makes him also a fierce Bernie Sanders supporter.) He spends most evenings creating art and listening to vinyl. His favorite movie is Birdman, his happy song is “Goodnight Ladies” by Lou Reed, and he gets more sleep than any other teen I know. Ashton’s style is unique and hard to parallel, but sometimes his brushstrokes are reminiscent of those of Van Gogh’s lesser-known ink and paper illustrations. He also draws inspiration from pop-art movements of the 1980s and 90s, specifically from work of Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat. He likes the impressionist/expressionist movements too, less concretely and more because of the way emotion is conveyed. Ashton has mentioned before …

Words by Farah Ghafoor HOW TO BE YOUR OWN REAPER: they dangled and cracked like the hearts he liked to collect, ornaments that pulsed like drumbeats, sizzled like firecrackers. she bit into the pomegranate knowing what was to come. knew it would taste sour like power and swallowed. persephone was a huntress who believed she had stayed out too long in the sun. she only light she wanted came from the glow of bodies floating in lethe, they trembled with promise and compromise. she sucked her teeth and waited. NO MAN’S LAND somewhere in a distant country something drops into the lake of my lungs it’s my heart filled with lead and licorice-like worms it makes waves ripple down my thighs no living thing cries out instead, they ache echoing off the hollows of my knees my chin trembles for them. my bone marrow is a nesting ground for parasitic relationships a waterhole for the dead and needy. my voice makes them jump when I say “what defines a jungle?” “the leeches” before I …